


Little Do You Know

by WithTheKeyIsKing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Godfather Sirius Black, Good Severus Snape, Legilimency, M/M, Metamorphmagus Harry Potter, Natural Legilimens, Occlumency, Powerful Harry, Ravenclaw Harry, Severitus, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Sirius Black Free from Azkaban, Smart Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-04 23:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6679396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithTheKeyIsKing/pseuds/WithTheKeyIsKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus gets some shocking news at the reading of Lily Evans Potter's will.</p><p>Follow Hadrian Evans Prince through the trials and tribulations that come with being the Boy-Who-Lived</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Do You Know

**Author's Note:**

_The battle was raging around Severus. Green bolts of the Killing Curse were flying everywhere, mixed in with the bright red of stunners. You could easily tell whom was casting which; all of the Death Eaters were well accustomed to using the Killing Curse, and the Order of the Phoenix would never stoup to such dark magic, only using the stunners and other light spells to take down their opponents._

_Severus was doing pretty well in the fight, if he could say so himself. He didn't particularly_ like _fighting for and with the Death Eaters; it was quite a bore sometimes, and quite life-threatening, if he was being honest. The only thing keeping his on their side was that Li..._ she _had turned him away and it was now his place in the worldhe didn't have much say in the matter anymore._

 _The dark-haired man could see..._ her... _fighting. She was as beautiful as ever, maybe even more so in the current situation. Her red hair was whipping around her, looking like flames flying through the air. Her expression was focused and dedicated, an exact copy of the look she would get when studying for some test at Hogwarts. Her green eyes were narrowed in concentration, and there was the faint hint of a grim smile on her lips._

_She was currently engaging in a battle with Mulciber, if Severus was correct in recognizing the man's fighting style (and he did; he made it his business to know all of the Death Eaters' dueling styles, just in case), all most of her focus was there, so it was understandable that she did not see a Death EaterAvery, from the way he movedcoming up behind her, raising his wand, a killing curse right on his lips..._

_Severus cast the stunner before he even realized what he was doing. It hit Avery (sending the man flying backwards from the power of it and then to the floor) just as the beautiful redhead whirled around. She looked at the now stunned Avery for a few seconds in confusion, and turned around quickly, looking for the person who had done it. Her eyes landed on Severus, who still had his wand extended, the tip just beginning to fade from the red of the stunner. Her eyes widened and, though he could not hear her over the fights raging around them, her mouth formed his name._

_All of the fights were coming to an end. Some Death Eaters were down for the count, others were beginning to flee as more Order members appeared_ (live to fight another day) _and the last few were still fighting, Bellatrix among the last group. Severus watched as Lucius cast a quick enervate on Avery and hauled him up, apparating them both away. Severus quickly followed._

_The next morning, Severus did his best to drown his troubles in firewhiskey. He was at the Hog's Head in Hogsmede; it was probably not the safest place for him to be, seeing as it was incredibly close to Hogwarts with so many Order members, but Severus couldn't find it in himself to care. He liked coming here; it was familiar and didn't discriminate between the light and the dark. All were welcome if you could pay...and Severus could._

_He was startled from his thoughts by an irritated curse behind him. He rose his head and looked over his shoulder, his lips parting in surprise at what he saw. Lily Evans and Remus Lupin were sitting in a booth near the back of the Hog's Head, heads bent together in conversation. Lily's lips were pursed and her brow was furrowed, her green eyes burning. Lupin seemed to trying to calm her down, to no avail._

_Severus didn't know how long they'd been there or when the two had entered the barreally, was he so drunk that he wasn't aware of his surroundings?but they didn't stay long after he noticed them. Lupin got up, his expression regretful, his eyes shining with...pity? Well, that was odd. Lily still looked irritated and a little affronted, but let Lupin leave without any attempts to stop him._

_The dark wizard watched the redheaded witch for a few moments, taking the chance to look at her like he hadn't been able to in a while. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, quick with angry breaths; he watched the way her hands clenched around her wand and then released, the process repeating a few more times until she calmed down enough, her hands going limp on the table._

_After what seemed like an eternitybut was probably only a few minutesLily raised her head from where it had been resting on her arm against the table. Her head began to turn in a dramatically slow fashion, until she was looking straight at him. Her eyes widened in something unidentifiable, and then a determined expression overtook her face. She stood up and walked towards him with quick, purposeful strides, until she was sitting on the bar stool next to him._

_Severus stared at her dumbly. Lily Evansthe amazing woman who hadn't even spoken a word to him since their fifth year at Hogwartswas sitting next to him in a bar...by choice...staring right back at him as she ordered two glasses of firewhiskey. When they came, she picked her's up and took a big sip, barely even wincing at the burn that was sure to have accompanied the drink._

_He rose an eyebrow at her, finally gaining control of himself, and she rose one right back. "You saved me," she said offhandedly, as if they were discussing the weather. "I would like to know why."_

_"I thought that that would be obvious," he drawled, not bothering to pretend it hadn't been him, and took a sip from his newly filled glass. The burn felt good as it went down. "Just because you decided that you were done with me did not mean that I was ever going to stop caring, Li...Evans. Even if you hate me, you are still my best friend."_

_"You called me a mudblood," she hissed, but there was no heat behind her words, as if she was just going through the motions of being upset. "And I thought you'd have new friends by now; maybe some of your fellow masked menand women."_

_Severus scowled, a simply baring of his teeth. "They are not my_ friends,  _Lily. They are disgusting excuses for human beings. They are..." he looked over at her and frowned at her small smile, confused. "What?"_

_She placed her hand over his own, squeezing it tightly for a few seconds and then releasing it. They sat there in companionable silence for a few minutes, both of them just enjoying each others' company like they hadn't in years. Lily was less than a foot away from him, so close that Severus could practically feel the warmth radiating off of her._

_"Come with me, Sev," Lily said, and Severus felt his whole body shiver at hearing her say his name without disdain for the first time in far too long. So he nodded, and got up when she did, taking her hand when she offered it, and then followed her up the stairs..._

Severus' eyes slid open. He felt his world crash down around him. He'd been having that dream over and over again the last few nights, the memory of their night together swirling around in his head. It didn't take a genius to figure out why it kept coming back, of course; not only was it one of his favorite memories, but Lily had died only three days ago, and today was the reading of her will.

The man let himself lie in bed for a while like he usually hated doing, but now it seemed like the only option. Eventually, he forced himself to get out of bed. He showered and pulled on his best robesLily deserved that respectthe ones with his family coat of arms. Not the Snapes, mind you (they didn't have one anyway), but the Princes, an old bloodline that had been very powerful until it had all but died out. He was the last one left, and the name still carried the weight of the people that came before him.

It was five minutes to eleven a.m.; five minutes before the reading of the will was supposed to start. Severus knew  _why_ he'd been invitedapparently, Lily (and Potter, though Severus really didn't want anything from _that_ man) had put him in her willbut he didn't know  _why_ he was in her will. Other than that one encounter, she had hated him for the past six years.

At exactly ten-fifty-nine a.m., Severus stepped into his floo, calling out  _"Gringotts Bank"_ to send him traveling to his destination. When he arrived, he stepped out of the lone Gringotts floothe one used specifically for these purposesand strode towards the desk at the end of the long room of tellers. "I'm here for the Potters' wills readings."

The goblin didn't even look up from the task he was completing, simply raised a wrinkled, old hand and pointing towards a door off to the side of the large main hall and said, "that way, Lord Prince." Severus tersely nodded his thanks (even though the goblin still wasn't looking) and walked quickly towards the door he had pointed out, his robes billowing heavily out behind him.

The door swung open by itself mere seconds before he reached out to do so, so Severus didn't hesitate to enter. The room was a good size; not too small to be stuffy with all of the people, but not too bad as to be spread out. In the center of the room was a circular wooden table, at which sat  people, all of which he recognized. There was Dumbledore (with that damn twinkle in his eye), Molly and Arthur Weasley, a woman and man Severus vaguely recognized from his time at Hogwarts, and Remus Lupin came rushing in right after Severus.

Severus took his seat at the table, making it so that there was an empty chair to either side of him on purpose, and folded his hands in front of him. Dumbledore, the insufferable man who sat one chair away from him, smiled warmly. Severus simply scowled back; he wasn't in the mood to play nice with anyone,  _especially_ not the old coot.

Soon enough, a goblin came in and set up what they would hear the will with. It was a basin, shaped very similarly to a pensive, but with a small circle in the center, a hole in the middle like a doughnut. The goblin told them something about how there were other people mentioned in the will, but they couldn't be there for obvious reasons, but Severus wasn't really paying attention, too anxious to find out what was said and why he was there.

The way a wizarding will worked was quite similarly to a pensive. A goblinthe one who had been in charge of recording the message in the first placewould pour a vial of liquid memory into the basin (which was filled with pure water). The face of the person whose will it was would be projected up through the small doughnut-shaped circle, and the will would be said by them. It was the most effective way of having a will read, since it was by the very person who it was for.

Lily's will was first, which Severus thought was rather good, because he had no want or need to stay and hear Potter's; whatever the man wanted to give him couldn't be anything good. The goblin poured the vial into the basin, and a few moments later Lily's head wavered into existence, floating above the basin. She looked beautiful and  _alive._

_"My name is Lily Anne Potter, nee Evans; being of sound body, mind, and magic, I hereby record my last will and testament._

_"To Abigail Susan Blake and Aaronius Pietro Blake, I leave five-thousand galleons, and the hope that your daughter and son will be good friends to my son as he grows. You two were amazing friends to me through out our time at Hogwarts, and I dearly hope that you both survived the war and are hearing this years from now. I wish your whole family well._

_"To Remus John Lupin, I leave seven-thousand galleons and my sincerest apologies if you thought for even a second that we didn't trust you enough to be our secret keeper, but James and I hope you can forgive us soon. You were a wonderful friend to me always. You definitely could've worked a little harder as a prefect,"_ here she laughed, _"but I completely forgive you; they were just kids, anyway. I hope you live a long and happy life with Sirius."_ At these last words, Lupin's sad smile fell off his face and he looked ashen. Severus filed it away for later use.

 _"Severus Tobias Snape,"_ Lily said his name sternly, but there was a faint smile on her lips and warmth in her eyes. _"First, I want you to know that I have completely forgiven you for everything that went wrong between us. You were a hurt young boy and you said something cruel; it is forgotten, Sev, ok? So try to forgive yourself,"_ she paused and cleared her throat. _"To you, Severus, I leave a thousand galleons. Now, this doesn't seem like much compared to what others got, and that's because it is; because I'm giving you the most important thing in my life._

 _"I hereby transfer custody of one Harry James Potter over to one Severus Tobias Snape, Harry's birth father,"_ a collective gasp was heard, but Severus couldn't register it, too focused on what Lily had just said. He was the brat'sno, not the brat _Harry's_ birth father? The pieces clicked together; their night together, eight months before the child's birtha little early for a baby, but Severus had heard a rumor that child had been premature...

 _"Severus, this is very true. You're a smart man, you probably figured it out as I spoke!"_ She laughed. _"Sev, I only ask four things of you: first, change his name; he might be the Potter heir but he's not a Potter. Also, James picked out 'Harry' and I always disliked itI love the name Hadrian, though..."_ her smile was wistful, then she snapped back to attention.

 _"Next: tell him the truth, and I mean the_ whole _truth, Severus Snape; he deserves to know who you were, who James was, and what you both did. I know you'll want to hide all of it but I beg you not to. Also, don't keep him from Sirius and Remus; they love him just as much as I know you will, and even though you hate them, Hadrian deserves to know them. Lastly:_ love him, _Severus. He deserves a father who will love him with everything he has; James did his best, but he knew Hade wasn't his son...So just love him for me, for yourself._

 _"I love you, Sev, never forget that, or me, ok?"_ Lily's voice was thick with emotion, and she wiped quickly at her eyes. _"Alright, enough crying! I'm gonna move on now, ok? Bye Sev._

Severus could feel his eyes stinging with tears, but he refused to let them fall in present company. Harryno, he would call him his right name, his Lily-chosen nameHadrian was his son. Severus had a son who had just lost his mother and needed his father. Severus vowed to himself that he would follow all of Lily's wishes, even if he really didn't want to; well, except for letting Hadrian anywhere near Askaban to see the traitor Black.

* * *

After the message was finished being listened to, everyone began to go their separate ways. Albus rushed off to the Ministry to do one thing or another after warmly saying goodbye to each person. Severus flooed straight to Hogwarts; Hadrian had been put in the care of Minerva until they found him a permanent residence, and now that he had guardianship, he was going to get his child.

Minerva was hesitant when he demanded she hand the child over, but finally conceded when yelled that he was Hadrian's real father and that Lily had granted him custody. She still didn't seem sure about listening to him, but took him to where the child was resting anyway. He was quite glad that he was a force to be reckoned with he was mad, even if Minerva could be just as terrifying.

The child was sitting on the floor of Minerva's quarters, playing with a small stuffed snitch that would (very slowly, mind you) move about the air around Hadrian's head. The boy looked absolutely delighted every time he caught it, giggling softly and clapping his hands, which brought a faint smile to Severus' lips. He took a few steps closer to Hadrian, careful not to attract attention to himself just yet.

Hadrian was beautiful. He had black hair, wavy and long enough to curl around his ears. His eyes caused Severus to stop for a second; it was like looking straight into Lily's eyes. Severus could definitely see himself in the boy, too. The shape of his face and eyes, his slightly-hooked nose and angular chin, his cheeks with less chub than was normal for a baby. Yes, this child was most definitely his.

Severus summoned himself a chair and sat in it, bringing it close to where Hadrian was sitting on the floor. The toddler looked up at him curiously, and as the boy turned his head, Severus could see red undertones in his hair, bright like Lily's own hair. The child continued to stare at Severus with wide, innocent eyes, but there was an alertness in them that Severus wasn't used to seeing in children so young.

"Hi," Hadrian said lightly, giggling as he once more caught the stuffed snitch. "Who you?"

"My name is Severus, little one," the black-haired man said gently, probably more gently than anything he had said in a long time. "I'm your father, and I'm going to be taking care of you; is that alright?"

Hadrian turned to face his completely. He stared for a few moments, and Severus held his breath, feeling something important happening. Suddenly, Hadrian nodded in the determined fashion that only young children had, and then began to try and stand.

Severus' arms darted out to catch him, expecting the boy to fall, but Hadrian got effectively to his feet and toddled over to Severus. He rose his arms and made grabby motions with his hands towards Severus, bouncing slightly and chirping repeatedly, "up, up, up!" in a happy fashion. After a brief hesitation, Severus did as instructed, pulling the young child into his lap. "Dada," Hadrian said seriously, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was making a very important declaration. In a way, Severus figured that he was.

The next four weeks passed in a whirlwind for Severus. His first stepafter setting up a room for Hadrian in his house at Spinner's End and in his new quarters at Hogwartswas to take Hadrian (or Hade, as he'd taken to calling the toddler affectionately, after Lily had in the will) to Gringotts for a few reasons. The first was for a paternity test, just so that if anyone tried to take Hade away there was proof. Next, was to change his name.

Severus had thought long and hard about what to change Hadrian's name to. Obviously, the first step was making it official that his name wasn't Harry, but he didn't know about the middle and last names. Eventually, he settled on having Hadrian's middle name be Evans, after Lily, and Prince, after Severus' wizarding side of the family. Severus contemplated changing his own last name to Prince (since he was already Lord Prince) but decided against it.

Severus had never really liked children; in fact, he had always found them to be annoying and more trouble than they were worth, but it was already clear to Severus immediately that Hadrian was different. Hadrian rarely whined, and if he did, he always listened when Severus told him to use his words. The sixteen month old was incredibly bright for his age, already starting to form sentences like a nine year old could. It impressed Severus to no end, and filled him with pride.

The Potions Professor really enjoyed showing Hadrian the Hogwarts castle. The child was fascinated by everything, especially the ghosts, which he loved trying to touch, even though he admitted that he knew he couldn't, and would never be able to; he just thought it was fun. Severus had rolled his eyes with a quirk of his lips and moved onto another part of the castle.


End file.
